What kind of traveler are you?
A look back at all the times you thought of canceling your trip, but didn't
Dear Friend,
Admit it, you’re probably having second thoughts about your next trip.
That's understandable.
If you’re American, maybe you're worried about how people will treat you when you’re abroad. Or you're concerned about your 401(k) after the stock went into freefall earlier this week.
Then again, maybe you feel betrayed by Southwest Airlines’ announcement that it will start charging for checked baggage.
But this is a good time to ask yourself: What kind of traveler am I?
Because you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I think I know. I'll tell you in a moment.
Before I get to that, I have a special offer just for you. This week only, I'm discounting a paid subscription to Elliott Confidential by 30 percent and giving you a chance to win my favorite travel card. I’ll have a few details later in this email.
Travel is almost never easy
Look, I've been covering this business for more than three decades, and I've seen the ups and downs:
After 9/11, travel stopped in its tracks. People canceled their domestic and international vacations as a recession and war loomed. But many of my readers were undeterred. The moment flights were cleared for takeoff, they were on the phone with their travel agent, making plans to get out there again.
Travel was one of the first casualties of the Great Recession. Back then, it was more of a financial consideration. No one wanted to take a vacation when their mortgages were under water and their jobs were endangered. Still, many of our readers saw this as an opportunity for a bargain — and they took it.
Then came the pandemic. Authorities told us that travel was dangerous and that we should stay home with our facemasks on. But planes were still flying, and our readers were not going to let anything keep them from their God-given right to travel.
The point is, travel is almost never easy — and sometimes it's downright difficult.
But if you are reading this, you are not the kind of person who is easily talked out of a trip. That's especially true if it holds the promise of an adventure.
You can get the newsletter for people who travel anyway for 30 percent off this week. But that’s not all.
Special offer: Stay connected with Celitech
People often ask me how I stay connected while I'm abroad. For the last year, I've been testing Celitech's eSIMs, a dead simple way to get an unthrottled cellular connection from anywhere in the world.
This product has changed how I travel, and it’s the only card I won’t leave home without.
Now, instead of calling my carrier and signing up for an expensive international calling plan, I just upload a QR code and — presto! — I have a clear and secure connection.
And did I mention it's secure? Other eSIM companies are located in countries with questionable security practices. But Celitech is based in Santa Clarita, Calif., and hosted in the USA. I visited them the last time I was back home in the States, and they're the real deal.
This week, I'm offering all Elliott Confidential subscribers a discount code for a Celitech eSIM. Use the code ELLIOTT50 to get 50 percent off your next eSIM purchase.
You can redeem the eSIM offer here. (Don't forget to add the discount code ELLIOTT50 before you check out.)
I'm also giving away a one-year supply of eSIMs (10GB per month) in March to select subscribers. You can use the eSIM internationally or when you're at home.
My friends at Celitech also support the advocacy work and consumer journalism we do here, when you use the ELLIOTT50 discount code for your next eSIM purchase, you're also giving us your vote of confidence.
I'm with you!
My son Aren is a 9/11 baby. Two months after he was born, I applied for his passport and we boarded a cruise ship.
During the recession, I started an ambitious project to travel the United States with my young family and to write about it for National Geographic and The New York Times.
And the moment the pandemic travel advisories lifted, I was in the Middle East and South Africa with my college-age boys.
I'm with you, and not just as a fellow traveler. I'm also part of your trip as your advocate. Even when newspapers were canceling my column because of cost-cutting, even when it was costing me money to keep the advocacy open, I persisted.
And I'm with you now during these uncertain times — both as a traveler, and as your advocate. (In fact, I'm writing this email while I'm waiting for my flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching. I'm not going to stop.)
I love offering you special giveaways like I am this week. But ultimately, you're not subscribing to this newsletter for the perks or discounts. You're doing it because you’re someone who travels anyway.
This is the kind of traveler you are
Because you are signed up for this newsletter, I can tell you a few things about yourself:
You are curious, but careful.
You don't follow the crowd. Instead, you forge your own path, even if it means doing something a little risky. But the risks you take are calculated.
You are a skeptical and careful reader. You also want to get your news from someone who shares your values.
Most of all, you love to travel, and you won't let anything — not money, not politics, not hearsay — stop you from your next adventure.
We share these values.
I created this newsletter for you.
I hope you'll consider becoming a subscriber today. I'm looking forward to seeing you on my list of paid subscribers soon, so you can enjoy all the premium features of this newsletter.
Christopher Elliott
Publisher
Elliott Confidential